T-Mobile douses down payments for the summer, but shifts cost elsewhere

Update: We suppose summer is technically winding down, so in a way we're not terribly surprised T-Mobile reportedly decided to take two of its no-money down devices off the list.

According to AllThingsD, starting Saturday, T-Mo will no longer offer the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 4S for a $0 down payment.

Starting this weekend, the iPhone 5 will go back to its $145.99 down payment, with 24 monthly payments of $21.

Hey, it's a promo right? Nothing cheap lasts forever.

Original article from July 26...

Short of giving away free devices or service, a new T-Mobile summer promotion has just removed one more barrier to jumping ship from your current carrier.

The Un-carrier today announced a limited-time summer promotion that will deliver devices, from phones to hotspots to tablets, to customers for no money down, even if they're taking advantage of Jump.

Starting tomorrow, most T-Mobile devices will be available for a down payment of $0, plus interest-free 24 equal monthly payments with approved credit.

The deal includes three of the latest flagship handsets, including the Samsung Galaxy S4 or HTC One for $25 per month, or the 16GB iPhone 5 for $27 monthly. However, the online-only 32GB and 64GB models are exempt from this offer.

Saved by zero

Of course there's no such thing as a free phone, so the nixed down payment shows up as an increase to monthly handset payments. Most phones picked up with no down payment end up saving you money, but the amount vary.

For example, the S4 normally has a $149.99 down payment and $20 monthly payments for 24 months, so the phone costs $629.99. The zero-down route gives you the phone for $25 a month for 24 months, or a total of $600.

With the iPhone 5, the $145.99 down payment and $21/month for 24 month installments total up to $649.99. The no down deal gets you the phone for $648.

T-Mobile's Simple Choice plan will probably make up for that, starting at $50 per month for unlimited talk, text and 500MB of data, but be warned that while you owe nothing at the outset, you'll see the cost elsewhere.

Despite this, T-Mo is confident in the promotion.

"The number of reasons not to switch to T-Mobile this summer is ZERO," proclaimed T-Mobile President and Chief Executive Officer John Legere in a press release.

You'll need to be a "well-qualified customer" in order to get 0 percent financing on top of no money down, and the balance of the device payments will come due if wireless service is cancelled during the 24 months.

T-Mobile isn't saying when the summer promotion will end, but the deal is open to both new and existing personal or small business customers on all devices.

• T-Mobile recently added a pair of desirable devices.